BET Celebrates Black History Month With Hip-Hop Documentary Film Series

BET takes a no-holds-barred approach to Black History Month this February by examining the people, artistic elements and events that shaped Black America and influenced popular culture with a series of hip-hop documentaries during "Hip-Hop History Weekend," and a groundbreaking BET News special, "The Top 25 Events That (Mis) Shaped Black America."

Kicking off Hip-Hop History Weekend on Friday February 23 at 8:00 p.m. is "Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel," featuring interviews with friends, collaborators and scholars as they look back on Tupac and define his legacy today; "The MC: This is Why We Do It," which explores the origins of MC'ing, as well as the environmental, spiritual and moral aspects to the art form airs Saturday February 24 at 11:00 p.m.; "Black & Blue: Legends of the Hip Hop Cop," bringing to light hard evidence of the NYPD's controversial "rap unit" profiling premieres Sunday, February 25 at 1:00 p.m.; and closing out the weekend is "The Art of 16 Bars" in which some of rap's biggest MCs share their approach from free styling and writing to how to hold the Mic and dealing with being on tour, airing Sunday, February 25 at 3:00 p.m.

Delving deeper into Black culture is the ground-breaking BET News special, "The Top 25 Events That (Mis) Shaped Black America," premiering Tuesday, February 20 at 10:00 pm. This special takes an intelligent yet irreverent look at black history thanks to commentary from top cultural critics, comedians and celebrities. Bringing it all together is host Paul Mooney, returning from the highly-rated 2006 special "Top 25 Worst Moments in Black History," with the brilliant and politically incorrect humor that has made him a comedic legend.